Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help ensure that brain tumour patients have access to whole genome sequencing; and what estimate she has made of the proportion of patients who are diagnosed each year having the whole genome of their tumours sequenced.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Genomic testing for patients with a suspected brain tumour, including glioblastoma, is included in the National Genomic Test Directory. This testing can be delivered using a range of technologies, including whole genome sequencing (WGS) or Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology (large cancer gene panels) to ensure that a patient receives the most appropriate genomic testing depending on their individual circumstances. Anyone who meets the eligibility criteria outlined in the National Genomic Test Directory will be able to access this genomic testing offer.
Patients with a suspected brain tumour, including glioblastoma, receive standard of care testing via an NGS cancer panel for this clinical indication. In total, between April 2021 and September 2023, over 179,500 NGS panel tests have been performed, for all cancer clinical indications.
Since the WGS service was launched for paediatric patients in November 2020 and adult patients in April 2022, in addition to standard of care testing, as of 1 December 2023, 533 patients have received WGS because of a suspected brain tumour.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to increase trade with African countries.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department is actively expanding trade with Africa through 9 agreements across 18 nations, offering preferential access to UK markets. The Department’s recently launched Developing Countries Trading Scheme, effective in 65 countries, including 37 in Africa, simplifies rules and lowers tariffs to boost exports and stimulate growth. In Spring, the Prime Minister will host the second UK-African Investment Summit in London, fostering modern partnerships in trade and investment. Bilaterally, the Department is also working to enhance market access across the continent, solidifying our commitment to mutually beneficial economic ties with African nations.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of school attendance by (a) pupils who receive free school meals and (b) other pupils.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Improving attendance remains a priority for the Department. The Department is implementing a comprehensive attendance strategy, to ensure that absence is minimised and rates are returned to pre pandemic levels as soon as possible.
Absence data from the School Census is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england.
Data showing the overall absence rate in England and Gloucestershire in the combined autumn and spring terms from 2018/19 to 2022/23 is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/8e7082d1-d935-476b-48d8-08dbdfb23d99.
Data showing the overall absence rates for pupils with Free School Meals and those not eligible is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/26b94e77-f63c-4287-48d9-08dbdfb23d99.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of school attendance in (a) England and (b) Gloucestershire.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Improving attendance remains a priority for the Department. The Department is implementing a comprehensive attendance strategy, to ensure that absence is minimised and rates are returned to pre pandemic levels as soon as possible.
Absence data from the School Census is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england.
Data showing the overall absence rate in England and Gloucestershire in the combined autumn and spring terms from 2018/19 to 2022/23 is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/8e7082d1-d935-476b-48d8-08dbdfb23d99.
Data showing the overall absence rates for pupils with Free School Meals and those not eligible is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/26b94e77-f63c-4287-48d9-08dbdfb23d99.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made for her policies of difficulties experienced by schools in attracting teachers to take up leadership roles.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
There are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest number of FTE of teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.
The Department has put in place a range of measures, including bursaries worth £28,000 tax free and scholarships worth £30,000 tax free, to encourage talented trainees to key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing. The Initial Teacher Training financial incentives package for the 2024/25 recruitment cycle, which incentivises candidates to take teacher training in hard to recruit subjects, is worth up to £196 million, which is an increase of 15 million on the last cycle.
Teacher retention is key to ensuring effective teacher supply and quality. To support retention, the Department is funding a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 after tax for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools, including in Education Investment Areas. For 2024/25 and 2025/26, the Department will be providing around £100 million each year to double the rates of the Levelling Up Premium to up to £6,000 after tax.
On 13 July, the Department announced that it is accepting the School Teachers Review Body’s recommendations for the 2023/24 pay award for teachers and leaders. This means that teachers and leaders in maintained schools received a pay award of 6.5%, which is the highest pay award for teachers in over 30 years. This delivers the Government’s manifesto commitment for school teachers in all regions of the country to have a starting salary of at least £30,000.
The Department has also launched a new and updated suite of National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) for teachers and school leaders at all levels, designed for those who want to develop expertise in high quality teaching practice to those leading multiple schools across trusts. Four leadership NPQs are available to help boost leaders’ existing knowledge and confidence as they progress into more senior roles. This includes an NPQ in Headship (NPQH), Executive Leadership (NPQEL), Senior Leadership (NPQSL) and Early Years Leadership (NPQEYL). An Early Headship Coaching offer (EHCO) is also available to professionals who are new to the role of headship.
The qualifications are part of a wider set of teacher development reforms. These qualifications sit alongside the support, training and development which is available through the entirety of a teacher’s career.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help schools improve the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of teachers.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
There are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest number of FTE of teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.
The Department has put in place a range of measures, including bursaries worth £28,000 tax free and scholarships worth £30,000 tax free, to encourage talented trainees to key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing. The Initial Teacher Training financial incentives package for the 2024/25 recruitment cycle, which incentivises candidates to take teacher training in hard to recruit subjects, is worth up to £196 million, which is an increase of 15 million on the last cycle.
Teacher retention is key to ensuring effective teacher supply and quality. To support retention, the Department is funding a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 after tax for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools, including in Education Investment Areas. For 2024/25 and 2025/26, the Department will be providing around £100 million each year to double the rates of the Levelling Up Premium to up to £6,000 after tax.
On 13 July, the Department announced that it is accepting the School Teachers Review Body’s recommendations for the 2023/24 pay award for teachers and leaders. This means that teachers and leaders in maintained schools received a pay award of 6.5%, which is the highest pay award for teachers in over 30 years. This delivers the Government’s manifesto commitment for school teachers in all regions of the country to have a starting salary of at least £30,000.
The Department has also launched a new and updated suite of National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) for teachers and school leaders at all levels, designed for those who want to develop expertise in high quality teaching practice to those leading multiple schools across trusts. Four leadership NPQs are available to help boost leaders’ existing knowledge and confidence as they progress into more senior roles. This includes an NPQ in Headship (NPQH), Executive Leadership (NPQEL), Senior Leadership (NPQSL) and Early Years Leadership (NPQEYL). An Early Headship Coaching offer (EHCO) is also available to professionals who are new to the role of headship.
The qualifications are part of a wider set of teacher development reforms. These qualifications sit alongside the support, training and development which is available through the entirety of a teacher’s career.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the food security situation in East Africa.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The food security context across East Africa is perilous. More than 1 million people will benefit from UK-funded humanitarian programmes in East Africa this year with the UK providing £143 million to relief agencies.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the list of subjects defined as positions of trust in Section 22A of the Sexual Offences Act 2003; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We remain fully committed to protecting children and young people from sexual abuse and continue to keep the law under review.
In 2019-20 the Government carried out a review of “positions of trust” offences in the Sexual Offences Act 2003, following which we made the decision to extend the offences to capture those who regularly provide, coaching, teaching, training, supervising or instructing in a sport or a religion.
Provisions to extend these offences, in the Police, Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, also created a power to allow additional positions of trust to be added via secondary legislation should it prove necessary to do so.
These reforms commenced in June 2022 so have only been in force for a little over a year. Before considering further reforms, we want to be assured that the 2022 changes are bedded in and are working effectively. My officials work closely with stakeholders and operational partners to ensure that the existing offences are being used effectively to tackle this behaviour, and that those working with young people understand their responsibilities and act appropriately.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department are taking to reduce the number of EHCP applications going to appeal; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Most Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan needs assessments and reviews are concluded without parents/carers appealing to the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Tribunal. Nationally, in 2022, only 2.3% of all appealable decisions subsequently resulted in an appeal to the SEND Tribunal.
However, the department knows that the system needs to work better for parents. In the SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, published in March 2023, the department set out ambitious plans to establish a single national system that delivers for every child and young person with SEND and in AP so that they enjoy their childhood, achieve good outcomes, and are well prepared for adulthood and employment.
The department will give families greater confidence that their child will be able to fulfil their potential through improved mainstream provision in their local school through setting national standards for early and accurate identification of need, and timely access to support to meet those needs. The standards will include clarifying the types of support that should be ordinarily available in mainstream settings and who is responsible for securing the support.
For those children and young people who require an EHC plan, the department will improve the quality of plans. We will also improve the experience of getting a plan by creating a standard national EHC plan template, backed by standardising the use of local multi-agency panels to provide local authorities with holistic advice from education, health and care partners on whether to proceed to full EHC Plan assessment. The department also plans to digitise EHC plans, to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy in the system. In combination, this will deliver a more nationally consistent EHC plan system, and help restore parental confidence.
Where there are disputes, the department has committed to explore, test, and evaluate approaches for strengthening mediation between parents/carers and local authorities to help resolve disputes earlier before cases go to Tribunal.
The department continues to provide support and challenge to individual local authorities, through our team of professional SEND advisers, and are looking to include data on appeals as part of national and local inclusion dashboards to support the monitoring of performance across areas and drive improvements.
Taken together, our proposals should help meet the needs of children and young people sooner and reduce the number of EHC Plan applications going to appeal.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the local authority decision-making process when deciding specialist placement for SEND children; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Local authorities are responsible for deciding on the educational placement of a child or young person with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan, following the statutory process set out in the Children and Families Act 2014.
In the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, the department sets out the proposal to support parents and carers, or young people from the age of 16, to express an informed preference for a suitable placement, by requiring local authorities to provide a tailored list of settings that are appropriate to meet a child or young person’s needs. This would allow local authorities to give clear choices to families and better meet the needs of children and young people, while supporting the management of placements in a sustainable way.
The department is testing an advisory tailored list in participating local authorities through the Change Programme, to gain feedback on the best way to support families as they chose a placement. During the Change Programme, participating families will receive clear information about which settings are able to meet the needs of their child, but there will be no change to the existing statutory framework and their existing rights will be unaffected.